Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie is a 2000 American animated comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rugrats. It is the sequel to 1998's The Rugrats Movie and the second film in the ''Rugrats'' film series. This film marks the first appearance of Kimi Watanabe and her mother, Kira. The film also marks the only appearance of two villains in the Rugrats franchise, Coco LaBouche, a cruel and tyrannical woman who dislikes children, including babies, and her accomplice, Jean-Claude. The events of the film take place before the seventh season of Rugrats. The film was released in the United States on November 17, 2000. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed over $103 million worldwide against a production budget of $30 million. Plot At the wedding reception of Lou Pickles and his new wife, Lulu, a mother-child dance during the reception saddens Chuckie Finster, who realizes that he has lived over two years of his life without his mother, who died from cancer shortly after he was born. His father, Chas, shares Chuckie's loneliness. Tommy Pickles' father, Stu, is summoned to EuroReptarland, a Japanese amusement park in Paris, France, to fix a malfunctioning Reptar robot in time for a new show. Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Angelica, Dil, their dog Spike, and their parents travel with Stu to Paris to take a vacation at the park. Coco LaBouche, the cold-hearted, child-hating head of EuroReptarland, plans to succeed Mr. Yamaguchi as the president of the entire Reptar franchise and its parent company, Yamaguchi Industries, upon his retirement. Yamaguchi says that his successor has to love children to be able to do the job, so Coco tricks him into thinking that she is engaged to a man with a child. Upon the Rugrats' arrival at EuroReptarland, Angelica overhears the conversation between Coco and Yamaguchi before being caught. To save herself, Angelica reveals that Chas is looking for a wife and suggests that Coco marry him. Coco strikes up a relationship with Chas, but her attempts to bond with Chuckie fail. The adults and babies meet Coco's overworked assistant Kira Watanabe and her daughter, Kimi, who hail from Japan, but are now living in France. Kira, believing that Coco is truly in love with Chas, opts to help her boss win Chas' affections. Meanwhile, Spike gets lost in the streets of Paris and falls in love with a stray poodle named Fifi. Kira tells the babies the origins of Reptar, explaining he was a feared monster until a princess revealed his gentler side to make the frightened humans like him. Chuckie decides the princess should be his new mother, and is aided by his friends to reach an animatronic replica of the princess in the park, but they are stopped by Coco's ninja security guards. At the show's premiere, Angelica informs Coco of Chuckie's wish, so Coco sneaks backstage and takes the spotlight as the princess, luring Chuckie into her arms to make her seem wonderful with children. Chas is ecstatic, deciding she would make an excellent mother and decides on the spot to marry her. On her wedding day, Coco, aided by her accomplice Jean-Claude, kidnaps the children and traps them in a warehouse, including Angelica, revealing her true colours to Kira in the process. Kira then threatens to expose Coco's treachery, only to be fired and thrown out of Coco's limo in response, forcing her to race to the wedding by herself. Chuckie rallies the children to crash his father's wedding at Notre Dame de Paris using the Reptar robot. They pick up Kimi along the way and are chased by Jean-Claude, who pilots Reptar's nemesis, the Robosnail robot. The chase culminates in a fight on a bridge, and Chuckie knocks Robosnail into the Seine River. Chuckie interrupts the wedding and Jean-Claude reveals Coco's true nature by announcing that her kidnapping plot had failed. Chas angrily calls the wedding off. Angelica also reveals Coco's true nature to Yamaguchi, who is also in attendance, and he dismisses Coco from EuroReptarland. Angelica rips Coco's wedding dress, tourists photo flashes the humiliated Coco and Spike chases Jean-Claude in tow. Kira arrives at the church and apologizes to Chas for what Coco did to him and Chuckie. Chas and Kira eventually marry upon returning to the United States, with Chuckie gaining Kira as a new mother, and Kimi as a new sister. In addition, Fifi, now Spike's girlfriend, is adopted by the Finster family. Cast Main * Christine Cavanaugh as Chuckie Finster * Michael Bell as Chas Finster * E.G. Daily as Tommy Pickles * Cheryl Chase as Angelica Pickles * Kath Soucie as Phil, Lil and Betty DeVille * Cree Summer as Susie Carmichael * Tara Strong as Dil Pickles * Dionne Quan as Kimi Watanabe Supporting * Joe Alaskey as Grandpa Lou Pickles * Debbie Reynolds as Lulu Pickles * Michael Bell as Drew Pickles * Jack Riley as Stu Pickles * Melanie Chartoff as Didi Pickles * Tress MacNeille as Charlotte Pickles * Julia Kato as Kira Watanabe * Phil Proctor as Howard DeVille Guest stars * Susan Sarandon as Coco LaBouche * John Lithgow as Jean-Claude * Mako as Mr. Yamaguchi * Marlene Mituko, Darrel Kunitomi and Goh Misawa as the villagers of the "Princess Spectacular" show * Tim Curry as a sumo singer * Billy West as a sumo singer * Kevin Michael Richardson as a sumo singer * Paul DeMeyer as the street cleaner and dog catcher * Phillip Simon as the animatronic bus driver * Richard Michel as the French worker * Charlie Adler as the inspector * Phillipe Benichou as the ninja * Dan Castellaneta as the priest * Lisa McClowry as the princess * Casey Kasem as the wedding DJ * Roger Rose as the Finster wedding DJ * Margaret Smith as the stewardess Release The film was released on November 17, 2000 by Paramount Pictures. Home media Paramount Home Video released the film on VHS and DVD on March 27, 2001. In 2009, Paramount released the film via iTunes and the PlayStation Store. On March 15, 2011, Rugrats in Paris, as well as The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats Go Wild, were re-released on a three disc trilogy collection. On August 29, 2017, Rugrats in Paris was re-released again on DVD. Reception Critical reception Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 76% approval rating from critics based on 73 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "When the Rugrats go to Paris, the result is Nickelodeon-style fun. The plot is effectively character-driven, and features catchy songs and great celebrity voice-acting." Metacritic gives a film a 62/100 based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". This is the most critically acclaimed Rugrats film to date. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4, stating, "The point is, adults can attend this movie with a fair degree of pleasure. That's not always the case with movies for kids, as no parent needs to be reminded. There may even be some moms who insist that the kids need to see this movie. You know who you are." Roger Ebert|last=Ebert|first=Roger|website=www.rogerebert.com|language=en|access-date=2019-05-24}}Common Sense Media gave the film a 3/5 rating, stating, "Eighty minutes of visual surprises, clever comedy." Empire gave the film a 3/5, stating, "Just as good as the last outing, this is great kiddie fare with some filmic references for the adults." Plugged In wrote, "If parents are wanting more of what they see on the Rugrats TV show (plenty of potty humor, disrespectful language and zero discipline), then this movie lives up to expectations. Never is a child scolded for making a mess or reprimanded for being rude (of course, some of this is due to the fact that many of the characters aren’t old enough to talk and only communicate with each other). The movie is cleverly written—it actually has the ability to hold adults’ attention for longer than three minutes—but it’s not funny that chaos is the norm and children get to do whatever they want whenever they want. Neither is it appropriate for a children’s film to tip its hat to such R-rated flicks as The Godfather and A Few Good Men." Movie Review|website=Plugged In|language=en|access-date=2019-05-24}} Box office The film grossed $76.5 million in North America and $26.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $103.3 million, against a $30 million budget. In the United States, it opened at #2, grossing $22,718,184 in its opening weekend for an average of $7,743 from 2,934 venues. In the United Kingdom, Bridget Jones's Diary dethroned Rugrats in Paris to #3, thus placing it behind Bridget Jones and Spy Kids. Sequel A third installment, entitled Rugrats Go Wild, was released on June 13, 2003, featuring the characters from The Wild Thornberrys. References External links * * * * Category:Nickelodeon Movie Category:Rugrats